Marcus was just passing through Texas when he met Kent. In his cowboy hat, low-riding jeans, and black boots, Kent looks like the type of guy Marcus desperately wants to love.<br><br>But two years later, he's discovered Kent is cold and distant, the quintessential American cowboy, and spends more time drunk than sober. Marcus can never predict his mood and blames himself for the flailing relationship.<br><br>Then, one day when Kent rides into town, Marcus finds a young runaway hiding in their barn. Luke is warm, loving, and quick to please ... everything Kent is not. Though the answer seems obvious, Marcus finds himself torn between the boy who demands his love and the man whose love he craves.

Cowboy

He sits in Kent’s recliner in just his


boxers, his pants on the floor with his shirt, myshirt. He


leans forward and watches me, and just to keep from looking back, I


busy myself with spreading the blankets out along the cushions. I


lay bed sheets down over the couch, then a thin comforter, folded


up at one end so he can crawl under it easily enough, and I fluff


the pillow as I set it at the other end. “There.”


The open blanket looks inviting. If he lies


down before I turn in, it’s going to take all the strength I have


not to join him, so I turn away as he stands. “You should be


He catches my wrist. When I look at him, I


see in his eyes that he wants me in that makeshift bed with him, he


wants my arms around him in sleep, he wants to hold me and kiss me


and I shouldn’t but I can’t help it, I can’t stop myself as I lean


Chapter 23